Discover Maine Magazine is distributed to town offices, chambers of commerce, financial institutions, fraternal organizations, barber shops, beauty salons, hospitals and medical offices, newsstands, grocery and convenience stores, hardware stores, lumber companies, motels, restaurants and other locations throughout this part of Maine.
Lawrence Boynton of Bridgton with his team at the Fryeburg Fair on October 5, 1960. Item # LB2005.24.22933 from the Boutilier Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org
All photos in Discover Maine’s Western Lakes & Mountains Region Issue show Maine as it used to be, and many are from local citizens who love this part of Maine.
AIt Makes No Never Mind
by James Nalley
t the time of this publication, the summer will be winding down and the fall will be upon us. This includes relatively cooler temperatures, less crowds, and a slower pace. However, in several locations in this region of Maine, you might not necessarily be alone. Here are a few, in no particular order.
First, located in Skowhegan is Lake George Regional Park West. Founded in 1992, this day-use park includes cabins, picnic facilities, and playing fields, with nearby fishing, swimming, and boating. However, over the years, some people have claimed that when objects are arranged on tables for events, their configuration is completely changed. This only occurs in the amount of time it takes for someone to turn around. A well-known legend is that a group of children were wandering around the woods when they came across a cabin. Curious, two of the children lifted the smaller child up to look inside a window. The child saw chairs folded up against the wall in what appeared to be a game room. When another child looked through the window, all of the chairs were placed around a table.
Second, located at 2 Church Street in Bethel is The Chapman Inn, which
claims to be the only official “Certified Haunted” inn in Western Maine. Here, people experience doors opening/closing on their own, unexplained footsteps, cold drafts in the peak of summer, and a young woman’s voice coming from an empty room. It has been said that one of the spirits is Abigail Chapman, a daughter of one of the longtime owners of the house, who died when she was just 16 after a prolonged illness. One of the most bizarre sightings is a black cat leaving a room when other people enter. The fact that it walks through a solid wall is what makes this unusual.
Third, located at 40 Norris St in Greenville is the Greenville Inn. Here, it is believed that a young woman is a permanent resident. Some who have seen and interacted with her claim that she is actually very sweet and friendly. There have also been reports of unexplained voices and tap dancing coming from empty rooms.
Finally, there is the Strand Cinema in Skowhegan. Here, some employees have experienced unplugged power tools working on their own, while others have reported that something likes to smear paint on the walls and leave handprints on the theater screen. In another instance, an employee who went
to the basement to get some ice felt overcome by a spirit and was unable to move while attempting to come back up the stairs. Other odd occurrences include papers flying off desks, pens/ markers thrown around, and strange sounds coming from the balcony/basement in an otherwise empty theater.
On this note, let me close with the following: A taxi driver reaches the Pearly Gates and announces his presence to St. Peter, who looks him up in his Big Book. Upon reading the entry, St. Peter invites him to take a silk robe and golden staff and proceed into Heaven. Then, a preacher is next in line and has been watching the proceedings with interest. He announces himself to St. Peter. Upon scanning his entry in the Big Book, St. Peters furrows his brow and says, “Okay, we’ll let you in, but take that cloth robe and wooden staff.” The shocked preacher replies, “But I am a man of the cloth! You gave that taxi driver a gold staff and silk robe!” St. Peter responded, “Look…here, we are interested in results. When you preached, people slept. When he drove his taxi, people prayed.”
Strong’s Forster Manufacturing Company
by John Murray
The existence of toothpicks has been traced back for thousand years in various locations throughout the world, and these functional tooth cleaning items were used by everyone that walked this earth. It is rare that something is used by people that are rooted in every different social class, but this was not the case with toothpicks. People that were rich, common, or poor — it did not matter, because they all used toothpicks. On the one side of the social class spectrum, toothpicks were used by elite members of royalty, who had ornately crafted
The toothpick capital of the world
toothpicks were individually created for the users, and were not commercially produced in mass quantities. But in a tiny town in Maine, things changed.
gold and silver toothpicks created for their use. On the opposite side of the social class spectrum, toothpicks were used by farmers and factory workers who would whittle rudimental toothpicks from wood, bone, quill and slate. Regardless of who used toothpicks, all
During the mid-1800s an American businessman named Charles Forster had traveled to Brazil. During this trip, Forster had his first encounter with wooden toothpicks that were locally produced by members of the native population. As Forster studied the toothpick which was hand whittled from local wood, he realized that there was an empty gap in the commercial market for toothpicks. Other than the
expensive toothpicks that were being crafted for the wealthy class, and small batches of hand production occurring by individuals like the Brazilian natives, most people crafted their own toothpicks. There was no manufacturing of toothpicks on a large commercial scale. As Charles Forster departed Brazil and headed back to the United States with that toothpick in his pocket, he devised a plan to manufacture toothpicks from wood. Unlike the inconsistent appearance of hand crafted toothpicks, manufactured toothpicks would have the advantage of uniform size proportions. Even more important was the goal to manufacture these toothpicks in a more rapid fashion rather than the time consuming process of making them by hand.
During this time, mass manufacturing propelled by the invention of machinery was already creating assorted products in bulk. After study on the
subject, Forster determined that machinery already in existence for making small wooden pegs that were used in the shoe industry could be modified for making toothpicks. After a period of trial and error, the necessary fine tuning of the machinery was complete, and different types of wood was tested. It was concluded that white birch was the perfect choice for toothpicks, because of its softness and resulting sweet scent after being cut. Unlike previous handmade toothpicks that were flat, Forster created a round toothpick that was tapered to a fine point at the end. Following a long period of anticipation, the first batch of toothpicks was successfully created, and Forster was pleased with the result.
As with other manufacturing operations, being close to the source of supplies is a wise business practice. Forster recognized this factor, and decided to have a manufacturing facility that
had a ready supply of wood that was required for the toothpicks. The state of Maine was blessed with vast tracts of harvestable timber, including an ample supply of white birch. Local loggers were ready and able to supply as much white birch that was required, so Forster made the choice to set up his fledging toothpick manufacturing operation in Strong, not far from Farmington. A building that was previously used as a starch mill was chosen within the town, and the toothpick manufacturing officially began in 1887. This was the beginning of Forster Manufacturing Company, and this would turn out to be an historical event for the community. The product was reasonably priced for consumers, but initial interest in the manufactured toothpicks was lackluster. This lack of interest was rooted deeply in the concept that people could easily make their own toothpicks without much effort, so retailers weren’t in(cont. on page 6)
(cont. from page 5)
terested in placing toothpicks on their store shelves. Quite simply, retailers did not think the toothpicks would sell, and shelf space is far too valuable to waste on an item just taking up space. Forster strongly believed in his product, and devised a unique sales technique to increase consumer interest in his toothpicks.
Forster came up with the concept of creating an imagined demand for the toothpicks. To do this, Forster had members of his work force enter busy retail stores under the guise of customers that were shopping for toothpicks. Forster’s staff refined this technique by making sure that other actual customers were within hearing distance, and then asking the present store manager if they had toothpicks for sale. When informed by the store manager that they did not have toothpicks for sale in the retail store, the disappointed “custom-
er” would leave the store without purchasing anything, after informing the store manager that he would shop elsewhere. After this ploy was performed on multiple occasions, Forster would contact the store about his available product, and the store manager would promptly place an order for toothpicks. Another sales technique that Forster used was to hire men to dine in the finest and busiest restaurants of nearby big cities. Well-dressed and well-spoken, these men would enjoy a fine meal, and then ask the waiter for a toothpick when finished dining. Not having any toothpicks on hand, the waiter was then asked by the diner to summon the restaurant manager to address his concerns. When the restaurant manager approached the diner’s table, the diner would loudly express his disappointment, and then inform the manager that he would never again
dine at this restaurant. Shortly thereafter because of the success of this ploy, Forster would be selling toothpicks to many restaurants.
As word of this practical product spread throughout the region, the sales of Forster’s toothpicks would skyrocket. In the years that followed, Forster’s production plant was nearly overwhelmed with trying to keep up with demand, and the production facility was producing 500 million toothpicks a year. Often typical in the business world, this success did not go unnoticed, and manufacturing competition began to appear in other regions. Despite the increasing competition, Forster’s manufacturing plant continued to make profits, and by the 1940s, toothpicks reached the height of their popularity.
With the onset of the 1980s, foreign toothpick manufacturers were becom-
ing more vibrant, and had the edge of being able to produce a cheaper product. Also, by this time, other dental cleaning products such as floss and mouthwash were establishing a strong foothold and impacting sales of toothpicks.
Unfortunately, the Forster Manufacturing Company could no longer compete with the foreign competition, and after 116 years of operation, the manufacturing company permanently closed its doors in 2003. The day of the closing was a sad day in Strong because the company employed many locals and was in existence for such a long time. All that remains now is the fond memory and lingering pride with having an iconic item being devised in Strong. Strong was truly the toothpick capital of the world.
The Tale Of Bigelow Mountain’s Namesake
by Charles Francis
Cathedral Pines is one of the most beautiful spots in western Maine. It is a stand of red Norway pines on the shores of manmade Flagstaff Lake. In fact, it is so attractive that it is visited by hundreds of tourists every year.
Back in the fall of 1775 when Cathedral Pines must have been at the height of its seasonal beauty, it was visited by some one thousand men who, even though they were not exactly tourists, must have found that its quiet serenity provided the respite they sorely needed.
The October 1775 visitors were the
soldiers of Benedict Arnold’s expedition intent on capturing Quebec. One of them was Major Timothy Bigelow, a man whose name has been largely lost to the pages of history except in Maine and the Carrabassett Valley. It is here that one of the state’s grandest and most spectacular mountain peaks is found. That peak, Bigelow Mountain, is named for Timothy Bigelow.
Even though Timothy Bigelow is a legitimate Revolutionary War hero, his name is strangely missing from most history texts dealing with that period. Moreover, one has to search to discover
that this officer, who was one of George Washington’s valued staff members at Valley Forge, died ignominiously in a Massachusetts jail where he had been incarcerated for debt. By some accounts, Bigelow’s incarceration came at the hands of men who had made money as war profiteers while Bigelow was off fighting the British. In short, he had already become a forgotten hero just a few years after the Revolution. Timothy Bigelow was from Worcester, Massachusetts. He was a respected member of the community and a blacksmith. Bigelow was also the captain of
militia company. When the fighting at Lexington and Concord broke out, Bigelow was prepared to lead his company there. The fighting was over before the company could cover the distance, however.
The first action Timothy Bigelow saw in the Revolution was outside of Boston when Massachusetts and Continental forces invested the Redcoat-held town. At that time, General Washington said of Bigelow’s company, “That is discipline, indeed.” It was at this time that Bigelow was promoted to major, a staff position. Shortly after that, he became one of the two majors to accompany Colonel Benedict Arnold on his march through Maine to Quebec. Benedict Arnold was the commanding officer of eleven hundred men. They were to go up the Kennebec and then cross over the Height of Land separating Maine and Quebec. At Quebec City, they were to join with General
Richard Montgomery, whose forces were to travel to Quebec by way of Lake Champlain.
Arnold and his men left Massachusetts on September 13, 1775. Six days later, they were sailing up the Kennebec. In Augusta, they transferred to the heavy cumbersome boats known as bateaux. The bateaux, which were built of green planks, naturally absorbed water and leaked like sieves. Getting them upriver was an arduous task, to say the least. In fact, a good number of soldiers were injured in the process. In addition, some became ill. The injured and sick were dropped off along the way.
On October 19th, Arnold’s forces reached Cathedral Pines and what would eventually become Flagstaff Lake with the construction of the dam at Long Falls. Here they took a well-deserved rest.
From Cathedral Pines, Arnold’s troops made the horrendous traverse
NORTHLAND HOTEL
ROOMS & LOUNGE
through swamp and up and down hills and mountains carting their bateaux. As most every history buff knows, the investment of Quebec was a miserable failure. Timothy Bigelow was captured and held prisoner there for more than eight months.
After a period of recuperation in Worcester, Bigelow was promoted to colonel. He took part in the Battle of Monmouth and the all-important battle of Saratoga, the turning point of the war, which brought the French into the conflict on the Patriot side. During the horrible winter at Valley Forge, Bigelow became one of Washington’s more trusted advisors. He was at Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered.
Following his service, Bigelow returned to Worcester. Accounts of his later life are somewhat confused and clouded. However, it would seem that he found it difficult to pick up the life he led before the war. Appearances (cont. on page 10)
(cont. from page 9)
indicate that he fell into some sort of malaise either instituted or compounded by the death of one of his sons. For a variety of reasons, blacksmithing did not prove to be the lucrative enterprise it had previously been. Though wealthy enough in property, it seems Bigelow was short on cash. This condition resulted in his being charged with and convicted of debt. He died in a Worcester jail under conditions that have never been fully explained.
Today the mountain that bears Timothy Bigelow’s name is a popular natural retreat for those that love the out-of-doors. It has a network of trails including the Bigelow Range Trail. There is even a group devoted to Bigelow’s preservation, the Friends of Bigelow.
As for the area at Cathedral Pines where Benedict Arnold and Timothy Bigelow and their men camped, it is
now a campsite with a beach and playground on the shores of Flagstaff Lake. Looking across the lake from the campsite, one has a clear view of Bigelow
Mountain. The view is as commanding as it must have been when Timothy Bigelow first saw it in October of 1775.
by Greg Davis
WFarmington Reenactor
Bob Underwood
Bringing the Civil War to life
hen he is not busy working as a physician assistant, Bob Underwood of Farmington is likely to be playing the bagpipes or wearing the uniform of the Union soldier from a hundred and fifty years ago, or both.
“My life’s ambition was to be a history teacher. I went to Gorham State Teacher’s College, and halfway through my senior year, kind of got turned off by history. I found it to be events, facts, and images from the viewpoint of the guy who wrote it, and everyone could view it from a different perspective.”
He then entered the physician as-
sistant program at the Maine Medical Center and attended Dartmouth College. He now works as a physician assistant for HealthSource of Madison.
But he never lost sight of history.
“I was always attracted to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and the Civil war itself. It was brother against brother, families divided, and differing views. I find it a fascinating time,” Underwood said.
He has visited the Gettysburg, Antietam and other Civil War battlefields on numerous occasions. A few years ago, after researching his family’s genealogy and finding a great-grandfather who
served with the 2nd Maine Cavalry at age nineteen, and a great-great-grandfather who was a lieutenant with the 28th Maine infantry regiment, he was truly hooked on the Civil War.
He attended a reenactment of Custer versus Stewart at Hanover Junction, seeing a light cavalry reenactment consisting of three hundred and fifty soldiers. There, he met a man portraying a captain of the 2nd Maine Cavalry and found that none of the men in the 1st or 2nd actually were from Maine.
“I just had to join the outfit and have since been to many events. My wife, Charlotte, portrays the wife of a cavalry (cont. on page 14)
(cont. from page 13)
trooper,” he said.
“There was more to it than fighting battles, which was only 10 percent of the time. Much time was spent camping and marching on the road. We reenact major and forgotten battles such as the cavalry engagement, Buford’s First Day. After the battle, our camp life starts, singing and dancing around the campfires. After supper is a formal dance in your dress uniforms or gowns,” Underwood said.
The couple has been following reenactments for the past four years, mostly taking trips to Gettysburg, including a recent Remembrance Day celebration that recalled President Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address. That brought out 10,000 military and civilian reenactors.
A member of Kora Temple’s Highlanders, he is a pipe major and also brings his bagpipes to the reenactments. There, he is often seen piping in both
the Union blue and Confederate gray.
Besides keeping busy as a pipe major, he has played the bagpipes for weddings, funerals, parties, and other social events, as well as state functions attended by the likes of former senator Bill Cohen, Governors Edmund Muskie, Joseph Brennan and John McKernan, and president George Bush.
He said “no greater thrill in piping came my way” than when he performed in 1998 at a dinner and reception for eighty members of the famed Regimental Band of the Scots Guards and the Pipes and Drums of the Black Watch, following a concert in Portland. The Black Watch is the oldest Highland Regiment of the British Army, originally formed in 1739 from independent companies of Highland Police, which had been raised in 1725 to keep watch over the clans after the Jacobite Rebellion.
“Following the dinner I was invited
to play my pipes to entertain. I played a few tunes, including one to which the regimental dancers performed. That was a real rush!” Underwood said. After that, Mr. and Mrs. Underwood were invited for additional socializing.
Underwood noted that some Maine reenactments are staged. Once each year, Fort Preble is recalled in South Portland. This is the site of the lone Confederate “invasion” of Maine during the Civil War. “People don’t realize how much Mainers actually participated in the Civil War,” Underwood stressed.
In addition to major reenactments, Underwood and others attend living history events and encampments at festivals and fairs around the state, where cannon and musket fire are included in small mock skirmishes, to the delight of spectators.
In 1998 Underwood attended the one hundred and thirty-fifth anniversa-
ry Gettysburg reenactment. The events typically include such events as the reenactment of Little Round Top, Buford’s First Day, and a railroad cut and night assault, where pyrotechnics are lighted and the scene resembles that of a major movie production.
“No cameras are allowed during the event and civilians view from a distance. Only period clothing and equipment are used. Encampments are open during the day but closed after 5 p.m., enforced by pickets unless you have the proper military pass,” Underwood said.
This Yankee has played the pipes for “General Lee.” On July 3, 1998, he played for the official dedication of the General Longstreet Monument, in Confederate uniform.
The cavalryman rents his horse in Gettysburg, as he points out there isn’t much room to board it at his Main Street home in Farmington during the rest of the year.
The battles are truly something to see. A good rifleman could fire four musket rounds per minute. Underwood is faster, as he carries a replica 44-40-caliber Henry rifle, the first repeating rifle, favored by Washington,
D.C. cavalry and the 1st and 2nd Maine during the Civil War.
Most equipment carried by reenactors are reproduction items, although many are seen carrying an original bayonet or belt plate.
Rumford’s Hayden Gallant
by Greg Davis
UWWII medals fifty years late
.S. Navy Gunner’s Mate Hayden Gallant saw three years of military service and endured numerous aircraft attacks while aboard ships during World War II. It wasn’t until 49 years later that Uncle Sam acknowledged this service.
The retired Rumford construction worker earned campaign medals and numerous battle stars for European and Pacific Theater engagements, and in 1994 finally received a package containing the medals.
At the time, he said he was a little embarrassed by the attention it caused, and noted that it would cost the fishing buddy who “turned him in” a beer.
Gallant and Christy Chrissikos of
Mexico, Glen Stafford of Rumford, and Donald Spaulding of Canton were the first seventeen-year-olds to join the service from the Rumford area in January of 1943.
Gallant served on troop transport and cargo ships, then ended the war on a PT boat. On the cargo and troop ships he made nine passages unscathed as part of the large Allied convoys zig-zagging across the North Atlantic, dodging the German U-boats.
“There were always ships on each side going down and exploding,” Gallant noted. On D-Day, the Allied invasion at Normandy, France on June 6, 1944, he was bringing men and supplies ashore at Omaha Beach. He said
that he didn’t envy the troops going ashore that day.
His ship was once hit by a large German artillery round while cruising in the Mediterranean off North Africa. The round hit amidships in the forecastle area (upper deck) and disabled the ship. No one was in that part of the ship at the time, as gunners were at their posts, so no injuries were sustained, Gallant said.
Gallant manned the fifty-caliber guns, and occasionally twenty-mm cannon. Ships were frequently strafed by fire from attacking German fighters. He noted that the fifty-caliber gun had open sights like a hunting rifle, not like the computer-guided shipboard guns of
today.
“But we knocked a lot down. You didn’t really know who did it. Everyone shared the credit,” he explained. In the Mediterranean, he and the other gunners were frequently at their posts day and night. “General Quarters” would ring in the middle of the night, and men would run to their guns in various states of attire, Gallant noted.
After Germany capitulated in mid1945, Gallant was shifted to the Pacific Theater, seeing duty in the Philippines and Dutch East Indies against the Japanese Empire. He finished the war at the age of nineteen as a gunner on PT board duty, finally leaving the Navy in January of 1946, after three very eventful years.
The shaky, wood-frame PT boards were considered hazardous duty, but Gallant only participated in practice runs. He noted the deck would vibrate as the craft made a run.
“We were preparing for the invasion of Japan when Truman dropped the ‘Big One’ (two atomic bombs) to end the war,” Gallant said. He and countless other American servicemen feel that countless lives would have been lost if Allied forces had invaded the Japanese homeland.
During the course of his naval service, Gallant had made it ashore in North Africa, England, Scotland, France, Italy, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies.
He brought back one interesting war souvenir that many locals still remember. Gallant had a small monkey, which he would frequently be asked to bring to a local restaurant. That pet monkey lived for fifteen years and was a popular attraction.
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Austin Spool Mill
by Barbara Adams
In 1900, as one entered the town of Phillips in Franklin County over the Sandy railroad, he or she could not help but notice on the right a large one-story structure with numerous smaller buildings around it. Spurs of the Sandy River tracks could be seen running up to the structure and beyond, into the spacious yard surrounding the buildings. This was the Austin Spool mill, one of the largest industries in the county.
The mill was originally started in Weld, Maine, a short distance from Phillips, in 1867. It began under the name of Austin & Sanborn, with partners D.C. Sanborn, later of Wilton, and Mr. F.J. Austin, father of Harry P.
Austin, who was manager of the Phillips location until his death. The successful partnership existed until 1885, three years after the death of F.J. Austin when his children took over the partnership. In 1885 Mr. Sanborn’s interest was sold, and the company became Austin & Company. Owing to the lack of railroad facilities and scarcity of timber, the machinery and fixtures were moved to Phillips. Construction of the mill was begun in 1895, competed in 1896, and the first spools turned out in 1897.
The main structure was 100x45 feet, connected with a 22x25-foot brick boiler house, as well as fuel houses, offices, a 14x28 engine house, two dry
kilns, and three lumber sheds measuring 36x180, 42x40, and 20x30 feet, respectively. The power of the extensive plant was furnished by two 110 H.P. boilers, and two 35 H.P. engines. A hundred-light dynamo supplied the lighting, and the entire mill and building annexes were heated by steam. Automatic sprinklers connected to the town’s main water lines were also installed. There was also a supplementary water tank of 5000 gallons, and three hydrants throughout the yard for added fire protection.
The machinery consisted of eight sets of the latest spool machinery, saw machinery, planers, box-board machinery, as well as machinery for the
making and repair of spool machinery. There was also a fully-equipped blacksmith shop with two forges, two sets of anvils, plus a carpenter shop from which speedy repairs could be made. The mill had a capacity of producing 1000 to 1200 spools daily, which were shipped directly to the thread manufacturers across the country. A large part of the lumber used was delivered in logs, sawed into bars, seasoned in the yard, then went to the dry kilns and finally packed in the lumber sheds to be used as needed. An endless chain shaving-carrier was employed as a labor-saving device. It automatically carried each workman’s shavings from his lathe to the fuel house. Twenty people were employed during the summer months, while fifty were employed in the winter.
Although not the largest, the Austin Spool Mill was considered the bestequipped and up-to-date spool mill in the United States.
From Chicago To Moosehead Lake
Blair Hill was quite the farm years ago
by Sean & Johanna S. Billings
Long before it provided lodging for visitors to Moosehead Lake, the Blair Hill Inn was the site of lavish private parties.
The area in which the inn is located is called Blair Hill because of Lyman Blair Jr., a wealthy businessman who raised farm animals and built extensive gardens to serve as the backdrop for summer parties. An April 11, 1901, article in the Chicago Inter Ocean newspaper states that Blair was in Chicago “stealthily laying plans, so I hear, for the summer diversion.” The piece went on to say that his summer home in Greenville could hold 25 guests and rarely a week went by in the dog days of sum-
mer that it was not full. “Last year for example, the Blairs had so many happy outsiders with them that it was found necessary to purchase three new cows in order to provide extra cream, not to speak of the milk punches,” the article states, adding that Blair’s income was so large that “it takes a man of the widest resource to spend it intelligently.”
Blair, who was born April 28, 1864, in Chicago, was one of Lyman Sr. and Mary Francis (De Groff) Blair’s three children. Blair Sr. built a fortune with his brother, Chauncey, in the grain business in Michigan City, Illinois. Both men eventually moved to Chicago. On Sept. 25, 1883, when Blair Sr.
Blair Hill and Highlands on Moosehead Lake: A History
Autographed copies are available at our shop, Lily Cat Antiques. It is also available at area bookstores and gift shops.
Most people are familiar with the Blair Hill Inn. But the rest of the hill has a fascinating history, too, including a former resident who was a Titanic survivor and a landscape painter who was Greenville’s �irst preacher — and who died after being accidentally poisoned by his wife. This book covers the history of the hill overlooking Moosehead Lake from the original settlers to the present.
Woods
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was at the Tolleston Club outside Chicago, his gun discharged accidentally, killing him. Lyman Jr. found himself fatherless at age 19.
According to an article in the Chicago Inter Ocean, Lyman Sr. left the homestead and household property to his wife and divided the rest of his approximately $750,000 estate four ways. His wife and each of his two daughters received a quarter of it. The final quarter was left jointly to his wife and son together as “spending money” with the stipulation that Lyman Jr.’s share would go to the family if he were to marry. Lyman Jr. would also receive a portion of a trust fund if, at the age of 25, he was (cont. on page 28)
(cont. from page 27)
engaged in business.
The reason Lyman Sr. stipulated his son could not marry without losing his inheritance is unknown, but it didn’t stop the younger Blair from marrying Cornelia Macfarlane July 19, 1886. Cornelia’s father, Victor, was a wealthy Chicago businessman who began spending summers in Greenville in 1872.
Blair Jr., worked in the Chicago area before starting his own coal business in 1889. He ran it until 1891, when he moved to Greenville and became the vice president and treasurer of the Greenville Manufacturing Company.
Two days before Christmas 1891, he and his wife moved into their Greenville mansion, which had taken two years to build. It featured 10 bedrooms and four baths and overlooked Moosehead Lake with one of the best views.
Sometime after moving to Greenville, Blair became interested in farming, and began calling his estate Hill-
side Farms. He built multiple barns and greenhouses and raised registered Guernsey cattle, Chester white swine, Scotch collie dogs, Rhode Island Red and White Wyandotte poultry and Oxford Down sheep.
In December 1904, Blair took up active management of his stock farm and became an agriculturist and breeder. The Feb. 27, 1904, edition of the New England Farmer ran a letter from Blair that reported his manager was in New York buying a Guernsey heifer at a staggering price and was headed to New Jersey to visit another herd. Blair’s letter says his young stock of sheep was selling fast and he was booking orders for animals before they were born.
The Nov. 21, 1914, issue of the Bangor Daily News includes an article titled “Fine Cows at Hillside Farm” that says Blair was a leading exhibitor at state and county fairs, winning many blue ribbons with his Guernsey cows. Seven of his cows were being tested by
the University of Maine for the amount of milk and milk fat they produced. The Dec. 12, 1914 issue of the same paper reports Blair was at the state dairy conference and that he was going to experiment in raising mule foot hogs on his farm. He was already raising Chester white pigs and he ran an ad in the Aug. 26, 1915, edition for 6- to 8-week-old Chester white boars and sows that he was selling for $5 each.
It is unclear how much capacity Hillside Farms had for milk production or if the main goal was animal husbandry and breeding. Two milk bottles from Hillside Farms are known to exist. They are glass quart bottles with “Hillside Farms Greenville Maine” embossed on them. They also carry the Maine seal on the bottoms. It is unknown whether these bottles were for his own use on his estate or used to sell milk to others. The main source of milk in Greenville was Indian Hill Farms.
(cont. on page 30)
Lyman Blair, left, was a wealthy Chicago businessman who moved to Greenville in 1891, and built the mansion that became the Blair Hill Inn. With him are an unidentified woman and Norman Cooley, to whom Blair transferred some of his land, alledgedly to repay a gambling debt.
Accession # 2015.0314 from the photo collection of the Moosehead Historical Society.
(cont. from page 29)
Blair didn’t operate the farm on his own. The 1910 census shows Lyman, Cornelia, Victor Macfarlane, a boarder, three hired men and eight servants living at Hillside. The 1920 census shows Lyman, Cornelia, an employee and two servants.
An April 9, 1917, accounting of his farm animals shows Blair had one boar, four sows, three young sows, two small pigs, four horses, seven cows, four heifers, three bulls and three “scrub” cows, which are descendants of stray cows left behind by the Spanish.
Cornelia died Dec. 25, 1923, after having been ill for several weeks, according to a Jan. 3, 1924, report in the Piscataquis Observer. The article states she had been one of the “Home Guard” during the World War and that “she gave her life in the cause of freedom, just as truly as did any of our soldiers who gave theirs on the battlefield, as her constant work in the Navy League and other helpful agencies planted the
This postcard shows the Blair mansion when it was known as Hillside Gardens. It is now the site of the Blair Hill Inn. Postcard from the author’s collection.
germs of disease which finally brought an end to a busy, helpful life.”
Lyman died Sept. 12, 1946, and, because he had no children, he left his home to his nephew, Cyrus Adams Jr., a senior partner in the law form of Isham, Lincoln & Beale. The firm had been founded by Robert Todd Lincoln, son of President Abraham Lincoln, and two associates.
After Blair’s death, the mansion changed hands several times. On Nov. 25, 1997, Dan and Ruth McLaughlin purchased it and, a month later, began restoring the building while operating it seasonally as the Blair Hill Inn. The McLaughlins sold the property April 15, 2022, to Blair Hill Inn LLC, Jennifer Whitlow, who continues to operate it as the Blair Hill Inn.
Today, the Blair Hill Inn is well known as one of the premiere places to stay in the area, much as the mansion was the place to be back in Blair’s time.
Workers in an open processing area of Cannery 9 at the Burnham and Morrill Co. Factory in
Fairfield’s Seldon Connor
A battlefield romance
Iby Charles Francis
n less than a week, beloved, I shall be heart to heart with the most beautiful, the sweetest and dearest Love since the world began. Love will be young again…
The above words were penned by Seldon Connor for his fiancé Henrietta “Nettie” Bailey. At the time, Connor was in Kendall Mills. He had just moved there from his father’s home in Fairfield after three years of recuperation from injuries sustained during or related to the War Between the States. Connor went on to comment on some of Nettie’s letters by saying, “‘Dear Seldon’ in your writing always sends a witch’s pang through me. Judge from that if the joy it gives me to read the
words that tell me, each time in some new, sweet way, that you are mine and will go with me wherever I go, nothing daunted by anything that unkind fortune can bring so I am near you holding you to my heart.”
It is difficult to imagine a man of the present day and age composing thoughts like these in his mind, much less putting them down on paper. Seldon Connor wrote them in 1869, an entirely different time than that of today, however. Moreover, Connor was a unique individual, not only for the time, but also for his perceptions as to what it was to be a man. He had been unalterably changed by his wartime experiences.
In May of 1864 Seldon Connor’s left thigh bone was shattered by a minie ball during the Battle of the Wilderness. Battlefield surgeons had only refrained from amputating the leg because of Connor’s adamant protests. Connor had been convalescing in a hospital in the nation’s capital when he met Nettie Bailey. Nettie was one of the many “angels of mercy” who devoted countless hours trying to bring a renewed sense of hope to the wounded and maimed. In the case of Seldon Connor she certainly succeeded, especially as Connor would suffer another grievous injury to the leg he had almost lost on the battlefield. Seldon Connor was born in Fairfield on January 25, 1839. After attending (cont. on page 34)
(cont. from page 33)
Fairfield area schools, he enrolled at Tufts College in Medford, Massachusetts. Following his graduation in 1859 he moved to Woodstock, Vermont, where he prepared for the bar. With the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in a Vermont regiment as a three-month volunteer. Mustered out, he joined the 7th Maine as a major. Within a short time he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assumed command. He fought at Fredericksburg, where he received a minor wound, Antietam, and Gettysburg. He was colonel of the 19th Maine when he received the wound which put him in a Washington hospital. Following his injury, Connor was promoted to brigadier general. His wound, however, precluded further active duty.
In the summer of 1864 Connor returned to the family home in Fairfield to recuperate. He and Nettie maintained a correspondence which led to the couple’s betrothal. A year later Connor had recovered enough so that he was able to get around on crutches
and ride horseback. It was at this time that he sustained the second great mishap of his life. A horse threw him, shattering the same bone which had been broken during the Battle of the Wilderness. It took two more years for it to heal. Clearly Nettie Bailey and her letters played an important role in Connor’s recovery.
Seldon Connor and Nettie Bailey married and went on to raise a family, including two girls, Belle and Mary. Following his period of convalescence at his father’s home, Connor was named one of Maine’s Collectors of Internal Revenue in 1868. He held the position in several forms until 1875. Connor was also one of the founders of the Maine Department of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). In 1874 he was chosen as the Department’s fourth commander. As a GAR stalwart, Connor was a tireless campaigner for the rights and benefits of Maine veterans. It was just one of Seldon Connor’s services to Maine, however.
In 1857 Seldon Connor received the Republican nomination for Governor. He was elected by a substantial majority over his opponent. He was elected twice more. The greatest accomplishment of Seldon Connor’s terms in office is the establishment of the Madawaska Training School in Fort Kent. The University of Maine at Fort Kent traces its founding to the Madawaska Training School. The training school was the first of its kind anywhere in North America devoted to preparing teachers as bilingual instructors for public schools. The St. John Valley, where Fort Kent is situated, is, of course, the home of many of Maine’s Acadians. The establishment of the Madawaska Training School speaks to Seldon Connor’s own struggle back to a life as a part of the greater community — a struggle that was aided by his future wife Nettie Bailey.
Seldon Connor lost a fourth bid for Governor in 1878. It was a three-person race in which no candidate received a
clear majority. Although Connor received more votes than his opponents the “Fusion” coalition in the Maine legislature threw its support to Alonzo Garcelon.
In the following years Connor served as Pension Officer for the State of Maine and worked in banking. In 1893 he was chosen Maine Adjutant General.
Seldon Connor died In 1915. In 1913 the Aroostook County town of Connor was incorporated and named in his honor. (Today it is an unincorporated township.) The 7th Maine Infantry Monument at Gettysburg stands as a tribute to Connor and the men he led at that battle. Perhaps, however, the greatest battle that Seldon Connor fought was the battle to come back after shattering his leg not once, but twice. It was a battle which might not have been won had it not been for Nettie Bailey, and the love the two found in a Washington hospital.
Livermore’s Cadwallader Washburn
Congressman, Union General, and philanthropist
by James Nalley
In 1866, a Livermore-born lawyer built his own so-called “B” Mill, which was thought at the time to be too large to ever turn a profit. However, he succeeded and built an even larger “A” mill in 1874. Within three years, he teamed up to form the Washburn-Crosby Company, which produced flour. In 1880, the company’s flour won gold, silver, and bronze medals at the Millers’ International Exhibition in Cincinnati. Eventually, after the company’s president merged it with three other mills, it became General Mills, the consumer powerhouse whose products include cereals (e.g., Cheerios, Lucky Charms, etc.), flour, yogurt, soups, pizzas, des-
Cadwallader Washburn
serts, and pet food.
Cadwallader Colden Washburn was born in Livermore, Massachusetts (modern-day Maine) on April 22, 1818. He was one of seven brothers, including William, Israel, Elihu, and Charles, all of whom went into politics over the course of their careers. Washburn attended school in Wiscasset, and eventually taught at the same school for one year (1839-1839). He then moved to Iowa, where he worked in various jobs such as a teacher, store clerk, and land surveyor.
At that time, inspired by his brother, Elihu, who became a well-known lawyer in Illinois, Washburn attended law
Honorable
school and was accepted to the Wisconsin bar in 1842. Although he had plans to run a successful law practice like his brother, Washburn formed a business partnership with Cyrus Woodman in 1844. The two men then established several companies, including the Wisconsin Mining Company. In 1854, the pair created Washburn’s and Woodman’s Mineral Point Bank, but amicably dissolved their partnership by the end of that year. Over time, he continued to form new partnerships and was always looking for the next successful business venture. For example, in 1856, the Minneapolis Mill Company was established. Among its founders were Washburn’s cousin, Dorilus, and Robert Smith, an Illinois congressman who had acquired the rights to the waterpower in Minneapolis. After the company struggled financially and several investors left, Washburn bought in and became president. His brother,
William, then moved to Minneapolis and managed the company. The pair went on to build a dam, a canal, and a complex system of water transfer tunnels that were leased to local cotton and woolen mills. Then, according to the book History of the City of Minneapolis (1893) by Isaac Atwater, “with their new-found profits, they invested in mills themselves.”
As with many successful lawyers of the time, Washburn also entered politics to advocate for certain agendas. For instance, in 1854, Washburn ran for Congress as a Republican, and served three terms between 1855 and 1861. Since the Washburn family had always been strongly opposed to slavery, Washburn naturally joined the Union Army after the U.S. Civil War broke out in 1861. Due to his connections, he was appointed Colonel of the 2nd Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry. This led to future promotions to brigadier general in July 1862
and major general in November of the same year. As stated by Mary Paynter in the book Phoenix from the Fire: A History of Edgewood College (2002), “At one point, Ulysses S. Grant called Washburn, ‘one of the best administrative officers we have.’”
As for his battlefield service, Washburn commanded the cavalry of the XVI Corps during the siege of Vicksburg, after which he led the 1st Division of the XIII Corps along the Texas coast in 1863. For the remainder of the war, he served in administrative capacities in Mississippi and Tennessee. According to the American Battlefield Protection Program: Memphis Summary, “While commanding Union forces in Memphis, Washburn was the target of an unsuccessful raid led by Confederate General Nathan B. Forrest to kidnap him and other Union generals.” After the U.S. Civil War ended on May 13, 1865, Washburn left the Union Army (cont. on page 40)
(cont. from page 39)
two weeks later and returned home to Wisconsin.
In 1866, Washburn was elected as a congressman for Wisconsin’s 6th congressional district, after which he served two terms, but declined to run in 1871. As stated earlier, this was also the year when Washburn formed the Washburn-Crosby Company, which eventually became the well-known General Mills Company. In 1871, Washburn was urged to run for Governor of Wisconsin against James R. Doolittle, a strong supporter of President Abraham Lincoln’s administration during the U.S. Civil War. Washburn won the election and served as governor from 1872 to 1874. However, he lost his re-election campaign. A year later, he purchased the Edgewood Villa estate, and eventually donated the entire estate to the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters of Madison, Wisconsin. Today, Edgewood
College and High School are located on this 55-acre property.
On May 14, 1882, Washburn died in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, after a brief illness. He was buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Ever the philanthropist, he left a large bequest to the city of La Crosse to build the La Crosse Public Library. As for his legacy, the city of Washburn, Wisconsin, was named after him, along with Washburn County, and the city of Washburn, North Dakota. There is also the Washburn Center for Children and Washburn High School in Minneapolis, the Washburn Observatory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a downtown neighborhood and park in La Crosse.
Washburn Monument and grave site in La Crosse, Wisconsin
The Jenkins Legacy
Lewiston-Auburn residents welcomed a visitor
by Johanna S. Billings
John Jenkins was definitely the most interesting man I’ve never met. I wish I had known him. It’s funny to think how close I came — I almost moved to Lewiston 10 or 15 years ago. Instead, I learned about him by accident much later, as a resident of Greenville and the owner of an antique shop in Monson.
I wound up buying a huge estate lot from one of my favorite auction houses. Getting it home required three pickup truck loads, two carloads and a trailer load. Over the two weeks, as I sorted through it, I learned a lot about a man whose accomplishments are too many to list in the space I have here. He is
probably best known as mayor of both Lewiston (1994-98) and Auburn (200709). He made history when he became Maine’s first Black state senator in 1996. But he wasn’t just a statesman. He was also a martial arts champion, a motivational speaker and an educator.
Plus, he was a packrat. He saved every bill, every receipt, and every catalog that came in the mail. But he also saved every letter he received in appreciation for his community service activities. My treasure trove also included hoards of literature on the topics he kept close to his heart — Boy Scouts, martial arts, the Maine Justice Academy and the Glass Ceiling Commission,
among others.
The papers told me John was a native of Newark, N.J., who moved to Maine to attend Bates College in Lewiston. After graduation in 1974, he stayed in the area and made it his home. He continued his martial arts training at the Golden Fist in Lewiston, eventually taking over the business. He founded a motivational speaking business known as PepTalk and created many other educational programs to address everything from safety to healthy living.
All that info provided was only a superficial overview of his life, however. I wondered what he was really like. What kind of impact on local history
(cont. on page 44)
While mayor of Lewiston, John Jenkins, right, invited Muhammad Ali, left, to visit Lewiston for the 30th anniversary of his 1965 fight against Sonny Liston. Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, won the fight, which took place in Lewiston, with a first round knockout.
(cont. from page 42) did he have?
I read Dr. Chuck Radis’ biography, John Jenkins: Mayor of Maine. It provided some of what I was looking for, but I wanted to know more. So I began reaching out to people he knew, including his longtime best friend, Ann Parker. We bonded right away and, through phone calls and a short in-person visit, I began to learn about the man behind the piles of documents in my garage.
Ann told me John moved to Auburn in 2000. He bought a house, planning to bring his mother from New Jersey to live with him. However, she died before that could happen.
John remained in Auburn and, in 2006, when former Mayor Normand W. Guay moved and was unable to complete his term, John was asked if he would be interested in serving. At that time, John was busy working full time at a local bank and running PepTalk. He agreed to run in the special election
held to name Guay’s successor only because the term would be just one year. He planned to complete the term but not run for reelection. When his term was up, he kept his word, insisting his name not be placed on the ballot for the next regular municipal election.
Two of his friends, Conrad and Ginger Levasseur, had other ideas. They asked John if he would accept the position if he were to win as a write-in candidate. “Well, yeah,” Ann remembers John saying. “But no one ever wins in a write-in campaign.”
The Levasseurs were about to prove their friend wrong.
“They recruited senior citizens like an army,” said Ann, who served as his campaign manager. “Word got around. Everybody knew John and everybody loved John.”
Convincing voters to choose John was the easy part. The hard part was making sure everyone wrote his name
on the ballot exactly as required — “John T. Jenkins.” On election day, the Levasseurs set up a table outside an elementary school where voting took place. They greeted those arriving to vote and handed them cards with John’s name spelled as it should appear on the ballot.
Someone called the police claiming the Levasseurs were campaigning too close to the polling place. When a police officer told them they had to be at least 200 feet away, Conrad responded by asking the officer to follow him and watch while he used a measuring tape to establish the distance between the school and their table.
“They were 210 feet away,” Ann said. “(Conrad) measured before they set up their little table.”
The other candidates included Eric Samson, who garnered 1,305 votes, and Fred Sanborn, who received 514. John earned 2,166 write-in votes, more than
the other two candidates combined, and became the first person in Maine to win a mayoral election as a write-in candidate.
Much of John’s success as mayor of both Lewiston and Auburn was his attitude toward public service. His constituents came first. “He would always say, ‘We’re public servants and let’s not forget who we work for,’” Ann said. “He was so beloved by the people.”
For example, John held meetings in Auburn’s different wards so he could listen and respond to concerns. At one meeting, people said all they wanted was to have their trash picked up. This complaint referred to the discontinuation of an annual spring cleanup program during which the city would pick up whatever people wanted to put out to the curb. John got the city to bring back the program. People were thrilled.
“You would think he bought everybody a new house,” Ann said.
(cont. on page 46)
(cont. from page 45)
John also meant a lot to the many individuals he met through his community service.
“He was my mentor as a human being, but also politically,” said Scott Jordan of Cumberland, who knew John for more than 30 years. He said John helped him start two festivals, one in 1997 and the other in 1998. Later, when Scott expressed concern about national politics, John asked him what he planned to do about it. Scott said didn’t have a plan. After mulling it over, he decided to run for state representative. He was not elected, but still calls the experience a win because he met so many people and got to know his community better. He said he has decided to run again.
“I don’t know if I would ever have done that if not for John,” Scott said. He described John as a “rare kind of person” who cares about everyone, regardless of age, gender, skin color, national heritage, or any other quality that
people
Mentioning his Christian faith, Scott said, “We are taught to love our neighbor. John truly loved his neighbor. I don’t know a lot of people like that.”
The th ing about eye disease is, you may n o t know you have it. Some conditions are asymptomatic, and by the time symptoms do present we’re left with fewer options. An annual examination at GFVC can ensure that we diagnose any latent disease with cutting-edge technology. We’ll also check your vision and adjust your prescription. And while you’re here, you can check out the latest designer frames.
Fryeburg Fair, established in 1851, will host its 174th annual eightday Fair from Sunday, September 29 thru Sunday, October 7th, 2024
Tickets are $15/day and include the Night Show. Children under 12 are always free. Tuesday, October 1st is Senior Citizen’s Day and fairgoers 65 & over are free. Daily tickets can be pre-purchased online or at the gate. Weekly passes (all 8 days) are $100 and must be purchased in person at the Fair. Gates are open daily at 7 am and close at 10 pm.
The 2024 Fryeburg Fair opens at
7 am on Sunday, September 29 and highlights include the Firemen’s Muster, Sheepdog Trials, the first of four Pig Scrambles, Ox and Draft Horse Pulling, the Open Youth Horse Show, Flower, Poultry, Dairy Goat, Fleece, Fiber and Sheep Shows, Wreathmaking, Baking Contests, and the very popular Tractor & Big Rig Pull!
Our Livestock Shows happen every day with multiple breeds of cows, horses, oxen, sheep, goats, swine, rabbits and poultry. Refer to our program for times & locations. Stacy McConkey, from the Fair’s Pulling Ring says, “This year we’ll host a very special
Horse Pull (Saturday, October 4th). We’ll have eight elite teams – Canada vs. USA! Four of the teams are from the Annapolis Valley Exhibition in Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, vs. four from Fryeburg Fair’s winners. They all will compete in an elimination contest. On Thursday, October 3rd we’ll have a heavyweight horse and oxen combination class where the top four teams of horses and oxen compete together to see which paired duo can pull the load the furthest. And on the last Sunday we have two percentage classes - oxen Canadian style elimination and horse distance style! Don’t forget our youth (cont. on page 54)
(cont. from page 53)
exhibitors on Friday morning and a spectacular variety of horse and ox pulling all week!”
Woodsmen’s Field Day is on Monday, September 30th starts at 9 am and runs all day. It is the largest spectator woodsmen’s event in North America. Contestants come from all over the U.S. and Canada to compete in 30 woods skills events such as crosscut, axe throwing, standing block chop, bow sawing, chainsawing events and tree felling.
Monday also features the Women’s Skillet Throw starting at noon followed by the Men’s Anvil Toss. Both events are open to members of the public with good throwing arms! Sign up on Monday by 10:30 a.m. at the Livestock Office!
We welcome everyone to be part of Fryeburg Fair by entering your best garden vegetables, baked goods, quilts, canned/jarred/preserved foods, photographs, artwork, oil paintings, plants,
floral arrangements, crocheting, sewing (and so much more!) for judging at our Agricultural Exhibition Center. Ann Michele Ames, Head of the Center, says, “This year, in conjunction with the Maine Association of Agricultural Fairs, we will spotlight local farmers in our ‘Meet the Farmer’ demonstration area. Come enjoy our incredible Grange and Farm displays, and see who takes the ribbons in our hundreds of categories.” Easy online entry by August 15th at www.fryeburgfair.org. Five competitive Baking Contests take place during the Fair – enter by 12:45 day of event. Find Baking Contest categories and rules at www.fryeburgfair.org
Our Farm Museum is the best place to experience our Maine history of agriculture and farming. Much appreciation goes to the many donors over the years that have contributed to our enormous collection. Curator Erlon Jones says, “Our team of demonstrators will be providing an exciting array of old-
time demonstrations for all ages and interests. This year will feature some historic exhibits on lighting and electricity generation, which should prove illuminating…. Additionally, there will be popular food demonstrations, such as apple cider, woodstove cooking, and homemade ice cream.”
According to our online Survey 2024, everyone’s a Foodie at Fryeburg Fair. The options are amazing - making final eating decisions a competition in itself! The key to no weight gain – keep walking! When you want to rest we have seating everywhere. Try our two enormous Rustic Taps beer tents with excellent choices and wood-fired pizza. 2024 will be our second year selling Fryeburg Fair Cheddar Cheese. With thanks to the 2023 cows & farmers that provided the milk to Pineland Farms. It’s been aging all year at Pineland, and our sharp cheddar will be for sale for $8 per 8-ounce block and can be purchased at the Agricultural Exhibition Center. All proceeds will benefit agricultural education at Fryeburg Fair. If you bought this cheddar last year, you know how great it is!
Harness Racing is back to six days! Tuesday thru Saturday at 1:30 pm and Sunday at noon.
Our Mechanical Pulls start Sunday, September 29 at 4 pm with the Tractor & Big Rig Pull. On Tuesday tractor pulls at the Swine & Goat Grandstand start at 9 am and include lawn and garden size up to full-size tractors. Tuesday is also Antique Tractor Show Day and they are displayed on the north side of the Swine & Goat Grandstand. The 4x4 Truck Pull is on the last Sunday, October 7th starting at 3:30 pm. Dreamland Amusements promises incredible rides again! Ride bracelets are $35 on Friday & Saturday and $30 on all other days. Follow our Facebook page for pre-Fair ride bracelet flash sales. Dreamland offers great savings on these if you buy in advance. Dreamland tickets can be purchased online and credit cards are always accepted on
Ox Pull at the Fryeburg Fair on October 6, 1960. Item # LB2005.24.22931 from the Boutilier Collection and www.PenobscotMarineMuseum.org
site. Go to their website www.dreamlandamusements.com for ride & ticket info.
Our 2024 Night Show roster brings you Bad Habit (Maine’s very own rock-Monday), Josh Turner (nationally known-Country), Motown & More (A Tribute to Soul Legends-Wednesday), The Ultimate Garth Brooks Tribute (with Shawn Gerhard-Thursday), Tyler Reese Tritt (yes, the daughter of Travis Tritt-Country-Friday, followed by our annual fireworks show) and The Mallett Brothers Band (Maine’s Rock & Country Legends-Saturday). All Night Shows start at 8 pm at the Grandstand and are included in our daily ticket price of $15.
The Grand Parade on Saturday, October 6th begins at 10 am. Grab your coffee and breakfast and don’t miss this narrated showcase of the Fair’s best livestock, floats, bands, businesses and antique cars.
Camping at Fryeburg, Maine’s largest fair, provides the shortest commute! We have 3,000 campsites and one with your name on it. For reservations, call 207-935-2912 or email camping@ fryeburgfair.org.
Getting here & traffic – Our rural roads require everyone’s compliant participation. Traffic leaving from the Swan’s Falls Gate (south of the Main Gate) must turn South when exiting. North of the Main Gate must turn North when leaving. Our employees will direct you. Always best to arrive early and stay late. Plenty of seating and resting spots at the Fair. Weekends and perfect fall weather days are busiest. Adjust your plans accordingly. The good news – our ticket lines move fast and even faster if you buy them online! A couple of important safety notes for fairgoers. As always, no weapons are allowed on Fryeburg Fairgrounds. This year the fair will have metal detectors in use at entrance gates. And. No dogs or pets are allowed at Fryeburg Fair.
Our full program is available on our social pages, at www.fryeburgfair. org, and printed copies are on site. Big news for 2025 – Fryeburg Fair moves to nine full days!
Fryeburg Fair. A family tradition. Love it as a child and come back with your own children and grandchildren. We’ll be waiting for you.
Auburn’s Dana T. Merrill
World War I Chief of Staff for the 37th Division
by James Nalley
In February 1899, fighting broke out between the forces of the United States and those of the Philippine Republic, in what became known as the Philippine-American War (1899–1902). In command of Company A, 12th Infantry Regiment was a fresh second lieutenant from Auburn. This particular regiment would go on to participate in three of the most brutal campaigns of the war: Malolos, Tarlac, and Luzon. He continued to work his way up the ranks to become chief of staff for the 37th Infantry Division, which took part in numerous engagements in France during World War I. Over his career, he not only received some the most distinguished decorations from the U.S. Army, but also those from Belgium and France.
Dana T. Merrill was born in East Auburn on October 15, 1876. His siblings included Elmer Drew Merrill (renowned botanist and taxonomist), his twin. He attended public school and eventually entered the University of Maine, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1898. After the Spanish-American War (April 1898–December 1898) broke out, Merrill enlisted as a private in Company H,
Dana T. Merrill (US Army Brigadier General)
1st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. By September 1898, his education and leadership skills earned him a regular Army commission as a second lieutenant, after which his initial assignments included command of Company A, 12th Infantry Regiment during combat in the Philippine-American War. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1899 and captain in 1905. With higher ranks in his sights, Merrill entered the Army School of the Line (currently the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College) in 1908. There, he developed his skills as an in-
fantry officer and continued to graduate from the Army Staff College in 1909. He was then stationed in the Panama Canal Zone (consisting of the canal itself and an area extending five miles on each side) from 1912 to 1916. With his growing reputation as an expert tactician, timed with the involvement of the United States in World War I, Merrill was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1917 and sent to the 37th Infantry Division. After the division was sent overseas to France in June 1918, he was promoted to colonel and became chief of staff of the division.
As for the 37th Infantry Division itself, it was a National Guard division from Ohio, nicknamed the “Buckeye Division.” According to an article (August 4, 1957) in The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Known as ‘Double-Time’ Merrill to the doughboys of the division, he became known for his unfailing energy and devotion to duty.” He and the division would go to fight in the Meuse-Argonne (September 26 to November 11, 1918) and Ypres-Lys (October 20 to November 11, 1918) offensives. As for the former, it was a major part of the final Allied offensive in the war that stretched along the entire Western
Front. Regarding the latter, it was the third and last phase of the Second Battle of Belgium.
For his service in World War I, Merrill not only received decorations from the U.S. Army, but similar commendations from Belgium and France. First, he received the U.S. Army’s Distinguished Service Medal. According to the citation, “As Chief of Staff, 37th Division, during its organization, training, and entire combat period, Colonel Merrill displayed unflagging energy and marked ability. His zeal, initiative, and military attainments was due in great measure to the success of the division in both the Meuse-Argonne and Ypres-Lys offensives.” Second, he received the Croix de Guerre from Belgium. Specifically, this award is primarily awarded for bravery or other military virtue on the battlefield. Third, he received the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honor from France. As for the former, it was awarded to recognize French and Allied soldiers for valorous service during the war, while the latter is the highest French order of merit for either military or civil service.
After the war, Merrill entered the U.S. Army War College and graduated in 1920. This institution provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officers to prepare them for senior leadership assignments and responsibilities. Even today, a select number of Army colonels and lieutenant colonels are considered for admission, after which
the college grants its graduates a master’s degree in strategic studies. Then, from 1924–1927, at the rank of colonel, Merrill was the commander of both the 10th Infantry Regiment and Fort Thomas, Kentucky.
From that time to his retirement in 1940, Merrill commanded various regiments and brigades, including: the 10th Infantry Brigade in Indiana (1930); a return to the 10th Infantry Regiment in Kentucky (1933–1935); the 12th Infantry Brigade at Fort Sheridan, Illinois (as brigadier general) (1935); the Sixth Corps Area and the Second U.S. Army (1936); the Washington Provisional Brigade in Washington, D.C. (1937–1938); Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana (1938–1940); and the Fifth Corps
Area (1939).
Although he retired in 1940, Merrill remained active during World War II, serving as the coordinator of the Greater Cincinnati Civil Defense Corps, which included southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. Like many other cities across the country, the thought of an air raid spurred similar groups to appoint air raid wardens and air defense systems from scratch. In this case, even though an air attack on an average-sized American city, such as Cincinnati, was nearly impossible, Merrill and his colleagues continued to lead the way.
Merrill remained active in the community until his death on August 3, 1957, in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He was 80 years of age. Always a Mainer (cont. on page 58)
Lt. Colonel Merrill in France in 1918
(cont. from page 57)
at heart, he was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Auburn. As for his legacy, he will always be remembered as an eager enlistee who earned his way to become the World War I Chief of Staff for the 37th Division and the commander of the 10th Infantry Regiment, three infantry brigades, and two corps areas. However, his leadership was always based on one belief. As he stated in the article The Impact of the World War I Experience on the Evolution of Training Doctrine in the U.S. Army (2021) by Major Gregory Hope, “The essential point needed in our infantry training today is more independence for organization commanders…[as] no single officer or group of officers has any monopoly of ideas on the methods to be pursued in training infantry.”
Pantry Girls Extraordinaire
by Shirley Babb
NMy first job at camp Wenonah
ot counting a few days picking beans, my first job was at Camp Wenonah for Girls in Naples, the summer of ‘46.
As I recall, there was an ad in the Kennebec Journal, placed there by the Maine Development Commission. After phone calls to Jo, Joan, and Kay and with parental permission, I answered the ad. A few days later, we were on our way to interview for the job at the State House in Augusta. There couldn’t have been a lot of responses to the ad, because we got the job — pantry girls. The pay? $125 for the summer. The big advantage? Living away from home for the summer.
Owned by May Barr Solomon and her son Herman Barr, Camp Wenonah was attended by girls ranging in age from six to sixteen, mainly from New York. In addition to five pantry girls there were also a kitchen staff of five and a grounds crew of four to make sure these girls were well attended to.
We arrived at camp a few days before the campers for pantry girl training. For a bunch who never had any kitchen responsibilities beyond washing or drying dishes at home, we were more than
a little overwhelmed as Roz, our boss and dietician, explained our duties. Everything from waiting on the tables to slicing beef tongue for sandwiches and at least fifty other duties necessary to keep the kitchen humming.
I was chosen to serve the head table — Mrs. Solomon; Herman, Naomi, the head counselor; and Gert, the head of the waterfront. I don’t remember why this honor was given to me. Actually, I was assigned the head table the second year — Joanne, who had worked there for a couple of summers before, had the head table my first year. She didn’t return the following year, so the honor fell my way.
So, resplendent in green uniforms and white aprons (white uniforms for parents’ day and special banquets), we hit the kitchen on opening day and started careers as pantry girls. That first year we were fairly responsible and performed our duties without giving Roz a hard time.
The big problem was our housing assignment that first year. Living at ‘The Farm,’ a short walk through the woods, didn’t work out. Too much after-hours activity for Peggy, the cook, and her
two assistants. While we were up half the night, they, being older, needed their sleep. It didn’t really quiet down until we were back from somewhere or the radios were turned off. Not that we didn’t need the sleep, we just couldn’t see wasting perfectly good free time after work by going to bed early.
Peggy and her women finally had it after one night. It was hot inside, so we decided to move our cots outdoors. All was well and we were asleep, when Hezzie, George, Willie, and Norm raided our sleeping arrangements and tipped us out of our cots at least twice during the night. We were amused; Peggy and company were not. Especially when we went back to ‘The Farm’ after breakfast and found our five cots in one big stack. That did it!
Herman called a meeting with the five of us and read us the riot act. The night raiders didn’t get in trouble because we didn’t rat on them. We also packed up our belongings and were relocated to “Hilltop,” a cabin across from the infirmary and nearer the camp entrance. Fine with us — we were by ourselves and far enough away from everyone, so our comings and go-
ings weren’t a problem. We were also just a few yards from the kitchen and dining room and could sleep a few minutes longer before reporting for duty.
“Hilltop” was also closer to the boys’ bunkhouse, so there were a few more night raids. One in particular involved pails of water tossed through the windows before we woke up and could slam down window covers. No one ever asked why there was a bunch of bedding and cots out drying behind the cabin —probably didn’t want to go there.
We must have gotten even with our harassers, but I don’t remember how. We did manage to hose down Willie, the dishwasher. He often used a hose to wash down the dish room, and we got the hose away from him. We soaked him and almost got Herman in the process when he came around the comer to check out the ruckus. He just stood with his arms folded while we scattered and left Willie to do any explaining.
We must have done a few things right and weren’t too much of an annoyance because we were asked back the next two summers.
Billie, the new dietician, was no Roz. She stood for no foolishness and we recognized authority when she appeared on the scene. We still grumbled when we had to squeeze a ton of oranges to make juice for the campers; when we had to slice beef tongue for bag lunches on trip day; and when we had to clean out the walk-in freezer when
the state food inspectors were due. But the grumble wasn’t loud enough for Billie to hear — not that she would have cared.
Only once did we really run afoul of Billie. We were supposed to be in the dining room at 7:30 to get ready for the campers’ breakfast at eight. It was must have been a late night out because we were dead to the world when the warning bell rang for the campers at 7:55. By the time we out of bed, into the green uniforms, and down the hill to the dining room, Billie was standing at the door looking at her watch. When the last of the campers were in the dining room, somehow we were ready. Billie didn’t say a word, but we knew by her demeanor that it wouldn’t be in our best interests to let that happen again. Thanks to setting three alarm clocks, it didn’t.
One of the summers I had to take a time out and go home for a couple of days. One night on the way back to camp from somewhere in our nightly roaming, I got caught short and had to make a pit stop in the woods. How did I know I was squatting in poison ivy? It was dark. So, two days later, my father had to pick me up and take me to the doctor for a shot. But after that, I went back to camp and finished the summer — wiser about pit stops in the dark.
After three years at Camp Wenonah and college in the very near future, $125 wasn’t going to be a big help in financing my first year at Farmington
State Teachers College, as it was called at the time. So, it was off to the Narragansett-by-the-Sea in Kennebunkport as a waitress $1.00 a day, plus room, board, and tips and navy blue uniforms. But that’s another story.
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Camp Wohelo’s Luther Gulick
His
connection
with Christianity, athletics, and Maine
by James Nalley
During the winter of 1891, Luther Gulick, the head of the physical education department at the International Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) College (then known as the School for Christian Workers) in Springfield, Massachusetts, persuaded one of his young students, James Naismith, to create an indoor game that could be played between football and baseball seasons. In response, Naismith created a team sport, called “basketball,” after which both men further developed the game into what it is known today at the national/international level. He also single-handedly helped the YMCA to accept athletics as a central part of its mission, instead of something inferior to its original purpose of converting young men to Christianity.
Luther Gulick was born on December 4, 1865, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The son of devout missionaries, he spent much of his youth in Europe and Asia, along with his seven brothers and sisters. According to his biographical article in the Historical Journal of Massachusetts (2011) by Clifford Putney, “All of the children were taught to believe in social equality and to abhor both slavery and the oppression of women.” In addition, their Calvinist parents ensured that the children would view themselves as “children of the devil” until they formally converted to Christianity. In their thinking, baptism did not automatically make children Christians. This rigid upbringing took a toll on one of the children, Charles, who developed bulimia (due to feelings of self-loathing) and died at 19 years of age.
As for Gulick, he lived the first five years of his life in Hawaii, until his father got into trouble protesting the king
and white sugar planters on the islands. Pressured to leave the islands, the family left for New England in 1870. Over the next decade, the family moved from one location to another to perform missionary work. Their assignments ranged from Europe to Japan. As for the latter, his mother (after sheltering him from outsiders) allowed him to play with the well-mannered white boys outside of the family. As Putney stated, “He did so and became the leader of a club called the ‘The Jolly Boys of Yokohoma.’ The boys defended themselves against rivals and even had a clubhouse, which they equipped with parallel and horizontal bars. Through his association with the club, Gulick not only honed his athletic skills, but he also learned how to interact normally with his peers. This served him well later in life, when he was widely viewed as one of America’s foremost experts on adolescent psychology.”
As for his schooling, his parents sent him to Oberlin Academy (a preparato-
ry department of Oberlin College) at the age of 14, under the belief that he would focus on classical and religious subjects in preparation for a missionary career. However, Gulick begged his family to let him study creative writing and music, especially the piano, organ, and guitar. Although the family found it all “impractical,” he continued anyway. Meanwhile, to support his claims of fitness, he focused on sports and excelled at baseball, boxing, and gymnastics, which, again, did not impress his family. To make matters worse, Gulick suffered from severe migraines, which forced him to leave school for some periods of time. Altogether, his family saw him as a failure.
At the urging of a family friend, Gulick eventually attended New York University’s medical school and graduated in 1889. The original belief was that he “had turned things around” and was planning to serve as a missionary doctor. However, he had other plans. In the summer of 1886, Gulick became involved with the YMCA, which (at the time) mainly focused on keeping Protestant farm boys true to the faith before moving to the cities for work. According to Putney, “To attract young men, YMCAs built Christian reading rooms and held tea parties and Bible readings.” However, after hiring Gulick, he single-handedly helped the YMCA embrace the new emphasis on a healthy mixture of faith and athleticism. Despite his dealings with his family regarding religion, his upbringing still had a long-lasting impact on him. For example, he stated that “Exercise made Christians better able physically to reform the world and he quoted scripture to justify his position.” This made him a rising star within the organization.
Luther Gulick
From 1887–1891, Gulick served as the superintendent of the physical education department at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. However, he did put his medical degree to good use at Springfield College, where he taught anthropometry (the measurement of bodies) and other related subjects. Meanwhile, many of his students became famous in sports. First, there was William Morgan, who invented volleyball in 1895 and popularized it with Gulick’s help. Second, there was Amos Alonzo Stagg, who invented the forward pass and became a legendary football coach at the University of Chicago. Finally, there was James Naismith. According to Putney, “When asked by his mentor to come up with a game that could be played indoors in the winter under electric lights, Naismith invented basketball.” Gulick then worked with Naismith to spread the sport, by chairing the Basketball Committee of the Amateur Athletic Union (1895–1905) and representing the United States Olympic Committee during the 1908 Olympic Games. For his efforts to increase the popularity of basketball (and physical fitness in general), Gulick was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1959.
Perhaps one of his most important contributions was his design of the now well-known triangle logo of the YMCA, representing the “spirit, mind,
and body.” Interestingly, Gulick’s campaign for this symbol was not an easy one. For instance, although Gulick believed that the body-mind-spirit triangle should become the emblem of the YMCA, the association rejected the idea at the 1889 convention as well as the 1891 convention. This was because many members viewed it as a non-Christian symbol that glorified the body at the expense of the spirit. As stated by Putney, “not one to be discouraged, he redoubled his efforts by creating pins that featured it and by
starting a magazine called the Triangle in 1891.” Later that year, Springfield College chose the triangle to be their logo and four years later, the YMCA agreed to adopt the symbol. Even in today’s modernized YMCA logo, there is still a small upside-down triangle tucked into the “Y.”
Subsequently, Gulick remained active in promoting the benefits of physical fitness. First, from 1903–1908, he was the head of physical training for the public school system in New York City. Second, according to the New (cont. on page 64)
YMCA on the Western Front in World War I
(cont. from page 63)
York Times (August 14, 1918), “He gave talks at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair to promote his ideas for physical training in schools. In 1907, he was the President of the Playground Association of America, which later became the National Recreation Association and then the National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA).” Third, in the same year, Gulick and his wife, Charlotte, established Camp Wohelo (a camp for girls) on Sebago Lake. Finally, in 1910, Gulick and his wife formed the Camp Fire Girls, as the sister organization to the Boy Scouts of America. Approximately three years later, membership had grown to an estimated 60,000. As stated in The New International Year Book (1920) by Frank Colby, “During World War I, Camp Fire Girls helped sell more than $1 million in Liberty Bonds and approximately $900,000 in Thrift Stamps. Roughly 55,000 girls helped support French and Belgian orphans.”
Although all of these organizations were fully supported by Gulick himself, he stepped back in World War I to help his first employer, the YMCA. As stated by Putney, “At the outset of the war, the association had taken responsibility for fulfilling the recreational needs of U.S. troops and it wanted Gulick to evaluate its work overseas. He accepted the arduous assignment, but it undermined his health so much that after he returned to Maine, he died at his
Smokey Bear with members of the Boy Scouts of America and the Camp Fire Girls celebrating the 50th anniversary of their founding.
woodland camp on August 13, 1918. He was 52 years of age. He was subsequently buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in Springfield, Massachusetts. As for his legacy, he will always be remembered for his part in basketball, the YMCA logo, and the founding of the Camp Fire Girls. However, perhaps his most important contribution was combining the worlds of religion and sports into what he referred to as “muscular Christianity.” In this regard, historian Robert Weir aptly described him as a “bridge between sentimental Christianity and secular modernism.”
